nounEtymology: New Latin, from Greek pankreas sweetbread, from pan- + kreas flesh, meat — more at rawDate: 1578
a large lobulated gland of vertebrates that secretes digestive enzymes and the hormones insulin and glucagon
• pancreaticadjective

Pancreas — Pan cre*as, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?; pa^s, pa^n, all + kre as flesh, meat: cf. F. pancr[ e]as.] (Anat.) The sweetbread, a gland connected with the intestine of nearly all vertebrates. It is usually elongated and light colored, and its secretion,… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English